Girl or Boy? Guessing A Baby’s Gender

Are you having a girl or boy? How many times did you hear that when you were pregnant? You’re carrying all in front, you’re having a boy! You have heartburn? Oh, definitely a girl!

We hear this sort of reasoning so often in America that it seems completely normal or believable, but like other folklore around the world behind guessing a baby’s gender, it’s not based in anything factual.

Baby’s position, the color of grandma’s hair, the heart rate or shape of Mom’s belly are all individual factors which have no bearing on the baby’s sex, but we like to believe and accept some of our silly predictors. What do people in other countries use to guess girl or boy?

In Sweden, they say that you’re expecting a girl if your hair is thinning and stringy as the pregnancy progresses, but you’re having a boy if your hair has full-bodied gleam and shine. Nearby, in Norway, they’re paying attention to which side of Mom gets the most kicks and jabs: to the right more is a boy, to the left, a girl.

A test in Romania to guess a baby’s gender has someone secretly throw a dash of salt in Mom’s hair, then they watch for the next thing she scratches. If she itches her nose first, it’s a boy, her lips, it’s a girl.

If you feel sleepy in Germany, you’re going to have a girl, but if you’re feeling perky and rested, you’re having a boy. While you’re in Germany, gaze into a mirror for a minute or two and watch your eyes, if they dilate you’re having a boy, if not, it’s girl time!

Put on some music and dance in Austria. Is your baby dancing along? It’s a girl. If he’s chilling quietly, it’s a boy.

Ooh La La, those legs! Do they look slim and trim as before or have they become think and round like baguettes? The French say a boy will give you pudgy legs but a girl keeps them slim. (This is one of the few guesses in which a baby girl hasn’t caused a negative change in Mom!)

The Italian predicting centers on food. Serve a pregnant mama bread, if she prefers the heel, it’s a boy, if she won’t take the heel, it’s a girl. Fluffed up in the face? A girl is in your belly, but if your face stays the same, it’s a boy who won’t mess with your looks.

My husband is 100% Italian and at a baby shower that my mother-in-law threw me, I was surrounded by Italian grandmas, aunts, cousins, more cousins, and other Italian women all doting on me. That’s when I learned that if a baby comes out looking like Dad, whether a girl or boy, it means the mother really loves the father. I wonder what the chatter would’ve been if our first baby hadn’t looked so much like Nick!

The Chinese and the Mayans use numbers to help you predict your baby’s sex. The Chinese gender chart
maps out the woman’s age at conception and the month of conception. According to legend, this chart had been buried for over seven centuries in a royal tomb.

Ancient Mayan lore compares the Mom’s age at conception and the year of conception, if both of those numbers are even or both are odd, it’s a girl, if one is even and one is odd, paint the nursery blue.

High baby, low baby, big butt, small butt, ball-shaped or watermelon shaped belly, carrying high, carrying low – What else have you heard to help predict the sex of your baby?